Asheville Mettā Dance Party
Imagine dancing your booty off with others, radiating love towards yourself, each other, and all beings everywhere with music that’s specifically created for this purpose. You can feel the room pulsing with love, and you feel happy. Welcome to a Mettā Dance Party.
This event brings together loving-kindness meditation (mettā) and dance. Loving kindness, or mettā, is a meditation technique where you intentionally cultivate positive, happy, loving thoughts and feelings: thoughts of good will towards yourself and others, feelings of happiness, unconditional love, joy, and care.
"The metta dance party was freakin’ wonderful. I found it so fun, and so powerful to come together with the shared intention to both dance and be more loving."
While you can practice loving kindness in formal seated meditation, you can also practice it while moving your body, dancing to excellent music, in the company of friends, loved ones, and friendly strangers.
The event will begin with an introduction to loving-kindness practice, with a talk and seated guided meditation. From there, we’ll transition into practicing loving kindness while dancing to trance, deep house, and mettāwave (dance music that’s specifically created for practicing loving-kindness while dancing).
Together, we’ll move, groove, and love.
Start with Seated Loving Kindness Practice
Transition to A Rockin’ Metta Dance Party
We’ve hosted several Mettā Dance Parties in locations including Washington, D.C., Brooklyn, NY, and the San Francisco Bay Area. You can check out the sets from prior Metta Dance Parties here.
“You’re practicing metta, with a big smile on your face and a feeling of warmth and joy in your heart. You look around, and it looks like most everyone else is too. Maybe some people are just dancing and enjoying the music – that’s fine – but it looks like everyone is happy, smiling, and wishing each other and all beings happiness. In any case, the music is bangin’, and everyone’s having a grand old time.”
Please note! We’ll be taking pictures and videos during the event, so that we can share the goodness of Mettā Dance Parties and love practice with the world. If you don’t want pictures or videos taken of you, please inform one of the hosts in The Love Department before the event begins! Please message us using the the ‘Contact the Host’ Luma function.
Schedule
6:45pm - 7:00pm: Arrival & Settling In
7:00pm - 7:30pm: Talk
7:30pm - 8:00pm: Guided Meditation
8:00pm - 9:30pm: Mettā Dance Party
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I’ve never practiced loving kindness before? No problem! This event will introduce you to the formal practice of loving-kindness, with a talk and guided meditation.
Is this an Ecstatic Dance? They’re similar, but different! While many people outwardly dance similarly to an Ecstatic dance, everyone at a Mettā Dance Party is holding the intention to practice love while they dance. Inwardly, we are sending love to ourselves, our loved ones, and all beings.
What does it cost? This event is offered in the spirit of generosity. It is a pay-what-you-can, by donation event. The suggested donation is $15.
What should I know about this practice space? This event is a devoted time to joyfully cultivate love together. Talking and conversation can be distracting for those that are practicing mettā and cultivating love. If you would like to have a conversation with someone at the event, there will be a dedicate space for doing so, away from the dancing. We invite you to cultivate love through connection and conversation there if that feels good!
What should I wear? There are no dress code requirements. We want you to be comfortable, so please wear clothes you will be comfortable moving and dancing in!
Who’s hosting this event? This event is led and organized by the Love Department of The Service Guild.
What’s the drug and alcohol policy? This will be a drug and alcohol-free event.
Who can come to this event? There are no age requirements or restrictions. Please feel free to bring children!
Do I have to sit on meditation cushions? No, we will have chairs available for those that would like to use a chair for the seated portion of the event.
Can I come late? Yes! You can come late. Bring love in your heart to dance with!
Can you host a mettā dance party in my city? Potentially! Feel free to ask us, but our availability is limited! If you want to host one yourself, we’ve created a guide to hosting Mettā Dance Parties that you can use to host one of your own whenever, wherever!
Ticket Price: This event is offered in the spirit of generosity. It is a pay-what-you-can, by donation event. The suggested donation is $15.
Location: Homewood
19 Zillicoa St
Asheville, NC 28801